


A Father's Soul

by CrownedinIvy



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, Angst, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Dick Grayson is a Ray of Sunshine, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Mental Health Issues, Not Superman Friendly, Oliver Queen is a good Friend, Poorly handled trauma, Psychological Trauma, Young Justice Season 1, why is that not a tag?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:35:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28206213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrownedinIvy/pseuds/CrownedinIvy
Summary: How can anyone stand by and watch someone hurt a child? Bruce had always wondered and now that he was a father it made even less sense. Until he saw Clark with Superboy; then the question became "How long can I watch?"Where Superman and the Justice League keep Superboy isolated to Mount Justice and Batman reflects on parenthood, torture, and eventually kidnapping.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 8
Kudos: 191





	A Father's Soul

Something is wrong with the boy. Yes, Bruce was aware that Clark wanted to refer to the boy as a clone, as something without agency or a soul, but Bruce was also aware that was purely because Clark couldn’t deal with his own trauma here. And besides, Dick liked the boy, so Bruce was predisposed to overlook things for the boy, like his creation being the single most violating experience of Clark’s life. More importantly though, something was wrong with the boy and Bruce was fairly certain he knew at least part of what it was. 

Using Clark as a model, most human psychology worked for Kryptonians. The boy had grown up from what Bruce had been able to discern in the first independent variable state of the “wire monkey” experiment. Worse than the Russian orphanages' paper circumstances because at least there the children were taught they were children; the boy had been taught he was a weapon. A potential replacement for Superman, but one without any sense of self. 

He had no social skills beyond speech, no table manners or even a concept of what food was according to the Wests, and no common experiences with his peers, save the trauma experience of their initial battle. And then Clark had voted to keep the boy isolated in the mountain and enough of the other Leaguers agreed by way of thinking that Superman was Superboy’s parent. Barry, Arthur, Oliver, Dinah and Bruce had broken out a bottle of Bruce’s good saké after the meeting. Bruce was trying to figure out how to write a bylaw that precluded Leaguers without sidekicks or children from votes regarding children’s welfare. He’d stuck the Wayne Enterprises lawyers on the matter. 

J’onn hadn’t understood. Telepathy definitely left the Martian at a disadvantage with human psychology because Martian’s entire communication structure evolved around this skill. J’onn was more than happy to point out that the boy was unhappy or odd for humans, but he didn’t understand what those strange thought patterns or behaviors the boy displayed meant. 

Bruce knew. Bruce knew all too well. The boy was acting like Bruce had as a teenager and if Oliver at 19 hadn’t come to visit Bruce in Europe, Bruce was certain he’d have killed himself before they hit 20. And Bruce didn’t have the superpowers that would probably take other people with him. (In another world, where Oliver and Bruce weren’t as good of Friend/Rivals, Bruce survived and went on to emotionally abuse his children and fail at every relationship he ever attempted). 

* * *

The boy was getting worse and the other kids were noticing. Dick and Kaldur were worried, Wally and Me’ghan were confused. Red Tornado had brought the matter up with Clark again. Bruce was starting to reconsider allowing Clark to spend around Dick. Ever. He was uncomfortable with what Clark was being able to justify to himself. Bruce wanted to think that this had to be where humans and Kryptonians differed--Medea killed her children, she didn’t drag out the slow torture for the child to carry out the deed himself. 

The boy was speaking less, becoming more aggressive. More careless with his teammates, more careless with his life. And Bruce wasn’t sure how much longer he could continue to put up with the torture of a child for his position on the Justice League. 

* * *

The boy wasn’t eating. The dog was doing its job at least, giving the kid a reason to survive missions, but it wasn’t enough. The boy wasn’t eating. As far as Red could tell the boy wasn’t sleeping. They were going to lose this kid soon. Bruce started working on the paperwork, started writing his letter. He hoped he wasn’t too late. 

* * *

It was an invasive species that did it. Not an invasion, because implied some kind of intent and the aliens’ weren’t sentient being as far as Green Lantern’s records showed. But Young Justice had been investigating and so they’d called for backup and the League had arrived just in time for Bruce to hear the disturbing and sickening pop/crunch of breaking ribs and Superboy’s scream of agony. 

That was when Bruce mental called it quits and hauled ass to the boy and carried him from the field to the Batplane. 

“Barry, I need you to bring Robin home as soon as the fight is over. I’ll return for the debrief.”

* * *

“Superboy,” Bruce spoke quietly trying to convey gentleness and knowing he was failing. “Is there anything you need from the Mountain other than Wolf?”

“Why?” the child asked, laying on his good side facing away from Bruce.

“Because from here on, you’ll be living with us,” Bruce said anticipating a reaction. Almost praying for a reaction other than--

“Why?”

“Because we should never have left you there in the first place.”

* * *

Bruce walked into the meeting room as if nothing had happened, taking the same strong strides as always right up to Superman and then he took a swing at the Kryptonian.

Bruce felt his first and second proximal phalanges crush upon impact, but he didn’t care. He took another swing this time, Barry catching his arm and pulling him back into Oliver’s hold.

Diana and Clark both stood and began to speak, but Bruce cut them off. Cut off their words and, though the two superhumans didn’t know it, their friendship as well. 

“Effective immediately, I am leaving the Justice League. I cannot continue to be part of an organization that would damn children for their creation. Not and be able to go home and look my partner in the face,” Bruce growled and threw down his resignation letter. “I’m keeping the boy.” 

“Bruce, you can’t--” Superman began to say.

“Try and stop me. It’ll be a defensible reason to pull out the kryptonite.”

“Batman, its--”

“I will set you on fire. See you all when the world’s ending and we’re in hell for child abuse.”

* * *

Bruce left then and didn’t know it, but Oliver and Dinah followed him. Barry was fast behind them and Arthur tended his resignation the next meeting. When approached Zatara politely informed the League that they could suck it. In 20 years, the Justice League would be no more. In 20 years, Oracle would be running a communication and response network of superheroes that put the Justice League to shame.

* * *

“Bruce, come here!” Dick shouted from the family room where he and the boy had set up for the lazy Saturday two weeks after Bruce had taken the Boy from the battlefield. 

“We picked a name!”

Bruce rushed to the room, careful not to spill his coffee--Alfred was limiting him, now that the Boy was living with them. The Boy had been carefully researching names that he thought he might like for his new civilian life and Bruce was hoping he’d pick one soon, so he could start activities outside the manor other than therapy.

“What name did you pick, Chap?” Bruce asked once he could see the boys, Dick exuberant as always and the Boy with that shy growing smile. 

“Connor for the Irish King,” he answered and Bruce’s smile grew. 

“Connor, wolf lover,huh?”

**Author's Note:**

> I've been sitting on this for a while and was pushed to share it. It's been a tough working in a medical lab this year, but plenty of kids who couldn't attend in person school this year had it a lot worse and I'm starting to see their cases coming through. 
> 
> (PS. the Origin of the name Connor is somewhat disputed, but I found this one and it cracked me up)
> 
> Speak up, be safe, wash your hands, and do your best to stay out of my lab. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays


End file.
